7 The Office of Education has chosen the broader term "Environmental/Ecological Education" (EEE), free of bias and conventional symbols, to describe the new thinking. EEE is the way to increase the individual's awareness, appreciation, understanding, motivation for action, and skills necessary to maintain his world and to enjoy life. To be successful in this important mission, American education must formulate a strategy that is addressed to the individual in his own Such a strategy will require an increase in environment. the level of wise and progressive decision making by all citizens in all communities on all issues. Tomorrow's education must do more than develop a keener perception of the environment, it must also persuade a generation to be so conditioned to their ecosystem that their behavior will clearly indicate a high sensitivity to any activity which is potentially harmful to the environment. This conditioned response has to function as successfully as the psychomotor mechanism we use when we automatically stop our car at a red light or when we make a split-second decision concerning a yellow traffic signal. All Americans should be given the opportunity through programs of environmental education to develop ecological values that are equal to or greater than the political, social, economic and religious values that have been the 8 basis for human decision-making processes. Changes in attitudes and behavior must come as expressions of individual choice, and hopefully our educational programs will provide sufficient information to create awareness of environmentally desirable options. As we develop national goals, objectives and strategies in environmental/ecological education (accepting the need for O Educational activity must work within the has as its tenet the freedom of individual They are: choice and respect for the individual person. balance and perspective which may lead to better decision making. 9 III. THE ENVIRONMENTAL/ECOLOGICAL EDUCATION CONTINUUM The environmental/ecological education continuum is a term that is used to describe the range of teaching-learning activities at each level of education that should be initiated if America is to learn to live within an ecologically sound context. There is no question thaṭ such an environmental approach to education is underway throughout the Nation. Some individuals and communities working to accomplish an almost universally felt need in this area are well-informed, competent, confident and inventive in their approach. Most of these new educational activities, therefore, may and should be initiated at the local and State level. Initiation and coordination of some activities will be appropriate for regional and national effort. Many sources are available to assist local and State planning efforts in environmental/ecological education. One of these is the Environmental Policy Act (P.L. 91-190), which has specified four comprehensive objectives: Promote harmony between man and his environment. O Reverse the degradation of our environment and biosphere. O Stimulate the health and welfare of man. Enrich the understanding of the ecological system and 10 natural resources important to the nation. Each of these objectives has an educational component, either in the area of general education or for vocational and technical education. They serve as points of reference for development of neighborhood, community, county, State, regional and national goals. A. Programs of Environmental Education Programs of Environmental/Ecological Education will involve the entire American educational system, both formal and nonformal. A formal educational system in this context is one which is targeted on specific student-teacher relationships, through specific curricula. A nonformal system is less definitive and structured and is directed toward the public at large, or particular segments of the general public. 1. Formal Education: The formal education system, from pre-school through continuing education, will directly affect over 50 percent of the American population in this decade. Initially, the principal effort in environmental education should be that of developing supplementary materials that are designed 11 for the traditional curricula such as English," biology, mathematics and history. In addition, the development of new curricula for nearly all teaching and learning situations should be initiated. The approach is to infuse environmetal/ecological concepts into all studies which lend themselves to changing man's life style to one of harmony with his world. Another approach for school systs might be that of developing a special environmental curriculum through which the traditional subjects would be learned. A third approach, but les desirable at the primary and secondary level, wold be the creation of a new course called environmental studies. The challenge for formal education is the establishment of curricula with relevant ecological content, presented in a way to meet the preset high motivation of students. This means that we must take advantage of all opportunities to relate learning experiences to actual enviromer al improvement |